Spring Break
Bush crimes remain unaddressed
Robert Zaller
Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: Ed-Op
In 1945, the victorious Allied powers put the surviving members of the Nazi leadership on trial at Nuremberg. Most of Hitler's inner circle had perished or disappeared; the prize catch was Hermann Goering, Hitler's second-in-command and designated successor.
Goering was a piece of work. As director of the war economy, he had presided over a vast slave empire; as head of the air force, he had led the effort to bomb Britain into submission by targeting its civilian population. While not thus engaged in office business, he had looted the great museums of Europe to build a conqueror's art collection for Hitler, as well as a private one for himself.
The chief American prosecutor of the time, Associate Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, was determined to proceed with a trial. Jackson and the Nuremberg judges believed that a crime might be a crime though no statute existed for it, and that the Nazis' Bia, unique in their scope and iniquity, cried out for punishment by whatever legal forum could be devised for them. Jackson added an important caveat: that the Nuremberg trials, if they were to serve as a standard of justice, had to be applied impartially to all future cases of so-called crimes against humanity, including state aggression, genocide, torture, and other deprivations of human rights. Nuremberg, he said, would ultimately be vindicated by the willingness of all to abide by the rule of law it established.
The criminal regime of George W. Bush, permitted to serve out its "term" by a cowardly and complicit Congress, has now been succeeded by a new administration saddled with the responsibility of clearing the docket. It is not enough, when crimes have been committed that clearly rise to the Nuremberg threshold (a planned war of aggression; genocidal destruction; systematic torture), to state that these crimes will not be committed any longer, particularly when the war at their root continues. Nor is it enough to publish white papers and to selectively release redacted memoranda. A full accounting is required, with trials as warranted, beginning for those with command responsibility, and punishment upon conviction.
Goering was a piece of work. As director of the war economy, he had presided over a vast slave empire; as head of the air force, he had led the effort to bomb Britain into submission by targeting its civilian population. While not thus engaged in office business, he had looted the great museums of Europe to build a conqueror's art collection for Hitler, as well as a private one for himself.
The chief American prosecutor of the time, Associate Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, was determined to proceed with a trial. Jackson and the Nuremberg judges believed that a crime might be a crime though no statute existed for it, and that the Nazis' Bia, unique in their scope and iniquity, cried out for punishment by whatever legal forum could be devised for them. Jackson added an important caveat: that the Nuremberg trials, if they were to serve as a standard of justice, had to be applied impartially to all future cases of so-called crimes against humanity, including state aggression, genocide, torture, and other deprivations of human rights. Nuremberg, he said, would ultimately be vindicated by the willingness of all to abide by the rule of law it established.
The criminal regime of George W. Bush, permitted to serve out its "term" by a cowardly and complicit Congress, has now been succeeded by a new administration saddled with the responsibility of clearing the docket. It is not enough, when crimes have been committed that clearly rise to the Nuremberg threshold (a planned war of aggression; genocidal destruction; systematic torture), to state that these crimes will not be committed any longer, particularly when the war at their root continues. Nor is it enough to publish white papers and to selectively release redacted memoranda. A full accounting is required, with trials as warranted, beginning for those with command responsibility, and punishment upon conviction.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
eddieo
posted 5/01/09 @ 11:44 AM EST
VERY well written and though out. Thank you for this voice of sanity.
The law is the law and MUST apply equally to all. These crimes are so grave that there is no immunity or statute of limitations for them. (Continued…)
Post a Comment